Thread: Military Surplus Gear

Originally Posted by Beavis

One piece of military surplus gear I can recommend without hesitation are the Austrian Soft Shell Sympatex jackets. Honestly, it's the best general purpose jacket I've ever bought. The bonus is they don't have a "military" look to them much either if that matters to you, but it means you can wear them out and about to a Cafe or whatever without looking like a clown. I pretty much live in mine in winter.

The Czech M85 parkas are also excellent in cold weather. They are no good for hunting (way to heavy, won't pack down, not waterproof) but again are excellent just for general wear out and about, very warm.

I just got a 95 Pattern British Windproof Smock to try out. Took it out in the rain for half an hour today, the water repellant treatment works really well, pretty impressive for a cotton smock that isn't seam sealed or anything.

I'm of the opinion that most military surplus stuff is crap and ironically not the well suited to out door activity. But there are some gems out there. Also the modern gear is light years ahead of crap from the cold war.

Where and how much was the Austrian one?